The brand-new anime My Hero Academia: Vigilantes has introduced fans to new heroes such as its lovable protagonist Koichi Haimawari, the Batman-like vigilante Knuckleduster, and the musically gifted idol, Pop Step. They have since formed a lovable trio as they fight crime together, but they aren’t all pulling their weight in this team just yet. Knuckleduster is doing most of the work while Koichi tries to keep up, and Pop Step is doing even less than that. Right now, Pop Step is barely even a part of this vigilante team at all.
Thus far in the anime, Pop Step is starting to drift into underwhelming territory that shonen anime shouldn’t indulge in. Pop Step almost feels like the token girl in this trio, and anime characters in the 2020s deserve much more than that. The narrative isn’t giving Pop Step much else to do, though, which makes her default into the role of «the girl.» Fortunately, there are a few ways Pop Step can up her game, even if the first few episodes only gently nudged her in that direction.
MHA: Vigilantes Needs Pop Step to Assume a Bigger Role
My Hero Academia and Other Shonen Anime Have Done Better
On one hand, secondary characters in anime like My Hero Academia: Vigilantes don’t have to hit the ground running, even if Knuckleduster did make a strong first impression as a Quirkless vigilante early in the anime. It’s not a problem if supporting characters like Pop Step have room to grow and power up over time, and the same certainly happened with many of Deku’s classmates in My Hero Academia. Pop Step didn’t have to be a legendary Best Girl right out of the gate — she’s better off growing over time and proving her worth. The problem is that, so far, based on what the Vigilantes anime is doing and how these things often play out in anime, Pop Step is in danger of becoming a token girl who never gets to step into their own as a character.
It’s not too late for MHA: Vigilantes to course-correct with this character, since there are plenty of story arcs in the anime’s future. But even so, Pop Step is already too close to «token girl» territory, and that makes the character arc start off more quietly than it should. Many of Pop Step’s lines and actions revolve around her mild discomfort with being the only girl in the trio and Koichi’s flashback sequence where he saves Pop Step as a child didn’t help. It’s touching how Pop Step is so grateful for the help, but it also sabotages her character as a helpless damsel who needed someone to save her. It may be on-brand for people to save one another in My Hero Academia‘s world, but it still reinforces the idea of Pop Step being practically helpless anytime something serious happens.
It’s not too late for Pop Step to avoid being an underutilized character in a male-led series. Still, similar anime to Vigilantes have made sure that their major female characters feel like fully fleshed out characters, including examples like Jujutsu Kaisen‘s Nobara Kugisaki and Chainsaw Man‘s Power, both of whom were equal to their male allies in the fight against monsters from the start. Not every shonen anime girl has to be the next Nobara, but they should still be more like Nobara than not to avoid cheap tokenism.
As for My Hero Academia, fans might recall that early on, Ochaco Uraraka really did feel like a token girl. She was a lovable and friendly female hero who cheered up Deku and established herself as his first real friend at UA. But even then, Ochaco was ahead of Pop Step because she had a Quirk good enough to get her into an elite school like UA, and over time, Ochaco had a remarkable arc as both a fighter and person. Ochaco did many things: she bravely fought Bakugo in the UA sports festival, trained with Gun Head, fought Himiko Toga a few times, and even made that heartfelt speech to convince a frightened crowd to let Deku into UA’s campus. Pop Step doesn’t have to top all that, but she does have to be more like Ochaco than her current self in some way, regardless of Quirk strength or attendance at a prestigious hero school.
Pop Step Can Follow the Examples of Sidekicks and Support Staff
Sidekicks Are Not to Be Underestimated
Given her Quirk and limited physical prowess, it seems unlikely Pop Step could or would want to follow Knuckleduster’s example, and even if Pop Step attended a school like UA or Shiketsu, she probably wouldn’t make it to graduation. That’s not a problem for Pop Step the vigilante, however, because there are more than pro heroes and standalone vigilantes to consider. Major pro heroes like Best Jeanist, Endeavor, and certainly All Might himself dominate the headlines, but they don’t always act alone. Sidekicks and support staff are a vital part of any hero’s work, and in My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, Tensei Iida/Ingenium proved that with the large Team Idaten. Pop Step won’t up her game as a solo fighter on par with Knuckleduster or the mysterious Stendhal, but she can become Koichi’s and Knuckleduster’s shared sidekick.
By no means would Pop Step’s character be trivialized by making her Koichi’s and Knuckleduster’s sidekick or support staff member, because such a role would suit Pop Step’s limited skills nicely, and above all, sidekicks and support staff are due a great deal of respect. They may not be the central figure in an agency like Endeavor’s, but they still fight hard and risk their lives while fighting as a coordinated team, and anyone can admire that. So far, this is one of Pop Step’s best options to be more than a cheap token girl in Koichi’s vigilante team, and it would actually balance the team a little better. Having three vigilantes who each think they’re the main hero would be awkward, but by adding roles like sidekick and apprentice, the team would be better balanced. And some members can have multiple roles if need be.
Pop Step Can Use Social Media and Music as Support Staff
Fighting Crime Means Using Specialized Skills
Another hopeful sign for Pop Step’s underwhelming character is that she has already established how she can be more than the token girl: her usage of social media. My Hero Academia has always been honest about how much people use mobile internet devices and social media of all kinds, from people sharing All Might videos online to Gentle Criminal trying to build his petty criminal career on YouTube. The whole franchise has been a slightly silly but still meaningful collision of classic superhero actions and the power of smartphones, and everyone knows how quickly news and rumors can spread on social media and the like. Information is power, whether it’s to recruit new members to a group, promote a pro hero’s brand, spread or counter rumors, and much more. It’s easy to imagine heroes like Endeavor and Hawks having social media experts on their staff.
That, among other things, is how Pop Step may pull her weight as a part of Koichi’s vigilante team. Early in the anime, Pop Step wowed Koichi with her ability to track down instant villains using the Ideo Trigger drug online, and she can also promote the Crawler’s brand online if she wishes. And of course, Pop Step may promote the team’s vigilantism with her musical performances, inspiring her crowds to spread the good word about what the Crawler and Knuckleduster are doing to keep the streets safe. So far, Pop Step is all about communication, expression, and media, and that gives her an angle not even Koichi and Knuckleduster can handle on their own.
Ideally, the My Hero Academia: Vigilantes anime will keep pushing that angle and not make it a one-time thing in that early episode. Pop Step won’t beat up gangs of criminals or steal the spotlight from pro heroes, but she can flex the underrated power of social media and music to provide logistical support for the vigilante team, proving her worth and carving out a worthwhile niche. It may not be on par with Ochaco’s and Momo’s own heroics, but for a teenage vigilante with a modest Quirk, it’s plenty to make Pop Step a true star of this new vigilante squad.
